Happo Go-en Satsu Trouble

[Dumbledork]

I don’t think this idea has ever been used before. What if Happosai had taught Child!Ranma the Happo Go-en Satsu?


This story happens before Happi is sealed obviously. Happosai watches Genma train a 6 year old Ranma and is impressed by his talent. After the sparring match Happosai notices that Ranma, who has been thoroughly thrashed by his father, is crying. Being a sucker for crying children and hearing Ranma’s wish of being an adult too so no one could beat him anymore, he teaches the child the Happo Go-en Satsu and the Happo Tsurisen Gaeshi. Of course, he doesn’t think about the consequences… like always.


When Happosai asks Ranma if he wants to learn a technique with which he can defeat his father the boy immediately agrees without asking if there are any consequences. Ranma learns the technique and is surprised that using it on Genma turns him into an adult. He was even more surprised by the devastation the releasing of the energy causes.


Not much later, after Genma and Tendo have sealed Happi in the cave, Genma takes Ranma on the training journey. Ranma doesn’t know about the consequences of the Happo Go-en Satsu and over the years Genma grows more and more concerned about the lack of growth of Ranma’s body.


Still, the story continues as usual until they arrive in Nerima and a panda is pursued by an 8-10 year old girl. I haven’t yet decided what happened with the Amazons, but things will dramatically change in Nerima. The Tendo’s reactions will be completely different of course, but since Ranma is really 16 years old, even if he doesn’t look like it, he’ll still end engaged to Akane who doesn’t really know how to treat the boy. On the one hand he makes her angry, but she doesn’t have it in her heart to punish the childish looking Ranma. But each time Ranma uses the Happo Go-en Satsu her canon reactions will kick in and she’ll try to punish him whenever she thinks it’s needed.

Of course, the reactions of the rest of the NWC will be interesting too. Just as with the curse Kuno won’t be able to see Child!Ranma and Adult!Ranma as the same person.

I really think this story has possibilities since it would be so much fun to play with all of the characters and have them react completely different to Child!Ranma and Adult!Ranma.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

The one problem with this idea, that I can see, is that the Happo Satsu doesn't cause the user to age into an adult form by default- we're shown Hinako using it when she was a child, and the process didn't cause her to physically age. The reason she canonically switches between ages is because she is, in reality, the adult and her ki metabolism is so warped and stunted that she needs an influx of ki to attain her true form. I personally attribute this to the ki overusage- because she grew to maturity feeding on the ki of others, her own ki never developed, or it because 'adjusted' to a much higher level of ki and so it figures she's barely "half a tank full" when she's relying on just the ki that her own body can produce.

Also, Happosai does have a little responsibility when it comes to kids- he's really more likely to have taught Ranma more conventional branches of his martial arts, the way he did Natsume & Kurumi. He didn't teach Hinako the Happo Satsus because she wanted to be a martial artist, he taught it to her as a way to overcome whatever illness/physical deformities it was that was making her an invalid. It might, in fact, actually be something of an impairment to a true martial artist; Hinako can leech the power right out of an opponent, but beyond that she doesn't canonically have any real fighting skill, now does she? To say nothing of the fact being given such a technique might turn Ranma off of learning any real martial arts skills- he has a technique that guarantees victory and which he can use without effort, so why bother learning anything else?

Heck, if he grew up learning it, he might not even have gotten cursed- even if Genma did take Ranma to Jusenkyo, why would Ranma have gone for the canonical "leap from pole to pole exchanging blows" when he could have gone for "stealthily deploy a circular object and suck out Genma's ki so he falls helplessly into a Jusenkyo spring"? If Genma came out cursed, and too weak to attack Ranma immediately, I'm pretty sure Ranma would have gotten away from the springs- the only reason he didn't in canon is because Genma attacked him before he could make any effort to retreat, due to Ranma being so distracted by the change and the Guide finally revealing that Jusenkyo is a polymorphic curse.

I'm also pretty sure that Happosai was sealed away before the 'big one' of Ranma's training journeys; while Genma was taking Ranma on training journeys when his son was so young that he needed to be strapped to Genma's back, Genma had definately finished his own "training" under Happosai before he made the seppuku pledge and took Ranma on his decade or so of constant training. But that's really a minor problem compared to the others I've pointed out.

[Dumbledork]

A stickler for canoness (is that even a word) and details, are we?

Okay. Let's see if there are any solutions.

First of all we don't know exactly when Happi was sealed, and dates are never really given in Ranma.

You're right with the ageing. Well that's simple. I'll have Ranma simply grow to the age he would have at the time he uses it.

Need to find another reason for Happi to teach it to Ranma, though. How about this. Genma angered Happosai and the pervert blew a fuse. Since he rarely thinks about the consequences of his acts he teaches Ranma the technique so that he can defeat Genma. After all, what would be more humiliating than being beaten by a kid?

[Konsaki]

Isnt the technique more an ability unlocked with a pressure point treatment? I might be remembering it wrong, but if that's the case, Happy could have done it to Ranma without any of them knowing until Ranma 'finds' a note/scroll and tries it, not knowing the consiquenses.

[StarEyed]

Need to find another reason for Happi to teach it to Ranma, though.

Perhaps something went wrong with one of Genma's training attempts and Ranma needed to learn the technique to survive? Since we're not sure when Happosai was sealed you could easily have Genma try something monumentally stupid very early on.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Perhaps something went wrong with one of Genma's training attempts and Ranma needed to learn the technique to survive? Since we're not sure when Happosai was sealed you could easily have Genma try something monumentally stupid very early on.

This. I like this idea, as it fits better with what we've seen of Happosai in canon. Natsume & Kurumi wanted to be strong, so he taught them conventional martial arts. Hinako needed his help to survive, so he taught her the Happo Satsus. Between Happosai's soft spot for children, which is about the only decent thing about him, and the fact it's known that Genma was borderline abusive in his training of Ranma (the Nekoken, routinely beating/starving Ranma), I could easily see Happosai having to use the Happo Satsus or even something more extreme to help Ranma recover after the luck of either/both Saotome fails and Ranma gets severely hurt.

The big problem is that I don't see Ranma progressing too much in his martial arts abilities if he learns the Happo Satsu. As I mentioned, or at least intended to mention before, the Happo Satsu is about the closest thing in the Ranmaverse to a oneshot kill technique- nobody in the series, not even Happosai, has ever been able to fight back after getting zapped with it. With such a devastating move in his pocket, would Ranma really bother taking martial arts all that seriously? All he needs to do is whip out the coin and Bam! His foe is down for the count. The main reason this bothers me is that I really can't see Ranma getting his canonical curse as well if he has this move- even if he does do the leap about on the bamboo routine... which might be about the only training he bothers with; speed and agility help him aim and suck his victims dry before they can get into range to hurt him. But, in canon, Ranma got his curse because Genma came out and was ignored while Ranma demanded the guide explain just what the hell was going out- if Ranma has the Happo Satsu, why wouldn't he instinctively drain Genma the moment the angry panda leapt out (or at least leapt at him), thus preventing his father from knocking him into the Nyanniichuan?

[Dumbledork]

Even if Ranma knows the move I don't think that Genma would let him slack off. And Ranma loves training nd learning new moves.

As for Jusenkyo who says that Genma has to launch Ranma in? Stupid accidents and strange occurences happen all the time in the Ranmaverse. Just saying...

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Does Ranma love to train, or does he do it simply because he literally can't afford to rest on his laurels? There's evidence either way, and I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just pointing that out.

Also, Genma would be able to force Ranma to do something against his will... how? All it takes is one dose of the Satsu, and Genma's too weak to move or speak, let alone browbeat Ranma into doing something. That's probably why Hinako is the way she is, in canon, come to think of it... but that's off topic.

Yes, there are stupid occurences and accidents, but there's stupid, and then there's stupid. Assuming Genma falls in first, the odds are likely that Ranma will suck him dry and render him too weak to push Ranma off of his perch. Then, having seen and heard just what sort of weirdness Jusenkyo is capable of, Ranma would move away from Jusenkyo- and between him being too weak at first to try and push Ranma in, and then calming down enough not to want to (especially if the Guide brings up there's at least one "Drowned Woman" type spring, which Genma believes would put them in deep crap with Nodoka), Genma wouldn't try to push Ranma in either. Yes, Ranma could slip and fall in, or the banks could give way, or the bamboo he's standing on could break, but that's going to be tricky to pull off and have it come off as believable, even if he doesn't fall into the canonical Nyanniichuan.

What I'm trying to say is that the problem is less Ranma being cursed and more "Ranma getting cursed without it seeming like the Voodoo Shark"... well, that's the politest interpretation, even if not quite accurate.

Come to think of it, whether Ranma gets cursed or not, there's going to be an inevitable change in the way Ryoga gets cursed. In canon, Ranma has no choice but to chase Genma down in order to beat him up- here, the angry Ranma can and will simply pull out a 50 yen piece, suck Genma dry, and then literally kick him while he's down... which means he isn't going to bump into Ryoga. Although... given where he was wandering, and it was actually the cliffside crumbling under his fingers when he landed that made him fall, he could still fall in off his own accord, and it would be in character for him to blame this on Ranma anyway- it just means Ranma won't feel any accord to not just blurt out Ryoga's secret.

[StarEyed]

But, in canon, Ranma got his curse because Genma came out and was ignored while Ranma demanded the guide explain just what the hell was going out- if Ranma has the Happo Satsu, why wouldn't he instinctively drain Genma the moment the angry panda leapt out (or at least leapt at him), thus preventing his father from knocking him into the Nyanniichuan?

Assuming that Ranma has access to something to drain him with. I can just see Genma stealing any coins he gets hold of, not liking that Ranma has a move that can knock him out so quickly, especially since it hinders his training. Bad enough that the 'man among men' will spend a large potion of his time as a child. That he can't even fight?

Draining someone may not necessarily be Ranma's instinctive reaction, not if he's used to avoiding doing so during sparring. He may not have a coin to do so with. Or he may simply be caught of guard or too surprised by Genma's transformation. After all, cannon Ranma would usually have instinctively dodged his father's attack.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

A valid point, but if Genma is in the habit of doing so, would Ranma have actually used the Satsus enough that his aging has been screwed up? While we do know that the Happo Satsus screw with the aging process, we don't know if it's merely a side effect of the physical modification or if Hinako didn't age because she used and uses the technique so frequently. Hinako was given the power to try and 'heal' a physical deficiency or a gentic disorder or something that caused her to be weak and frail and require bedrest at a hospital- it's fairly easy to conclude she would have had to use the Happo Satsus quite a bit in order to cure herself. It's possible that it's the sheer amount of usage she's made of the technique that's caused it to mess up her aging, rather then the actual fact she can preform the technique.

[Dumbledork]

That's the important point. We don't know. So it's up to the author to invent something.

[Crescent Pulsar]

I guess I'll weigh in... I think most of these issues can be handled by the author easily enough. It's going to be an alternate universe already, so it's alright to indulge. And having Happosai around might be doable, since we know that he wasn't sealed until after Akane was born (which was why he was asking for her by name when he finally escaped the cave). And since Ranma is the same age as Akane, give or take some amount of months, he may have been alive, at the time, as well. It should be safe to say that he was sealed by the time Genma was ready to start the training trip, since being a pupil under Happosai (whom they were practically enslaved by, which is why they had to use force to get away) and his son's teacher can't happen at the same time. The problem is that that's not a big window, and Ranma is probably too young to stand well (or at all), much less do the exercises required.

Since it can't hurt... The only thing that I can suggest is Ranma getting a serious-enough illness before he's a year old, and it debilitates him in some way (or, perhaps, he's just born with a weak disposition). Genma, worried about his son (and his future, and ultimately his own as a result), has no choice but to ask the master for help. Happosai understands the importance of the school's future, and thus the next generation of its practitioners, so he offers his help. He knows of a cure, but it won't be effective until Ranma is old enough to do the exercises.

Hope I was of some help.

[Makoto]

Besides, even if Ranma did have the technique, who's to say Genma would refrain from trying to instill the drive, knowledge, etc. in his son? Genma has reasons for his son being the best, and darn it, that's what Ranma's going to be...

So, Ranma could still have the drive, except Genma has to tread a little more lightly around him, at times. Can't teach the boy anything if you're out of it for the night.

[timdraco]

wouldnt there be a problem with his ki and chi reserves with him being that young? If i remember correctly that technique drains other's chi or ki reserves and adds it to the person's whos doing the techniques reserves. Id think a six year old wouldnt be able to handle it. Though i guess you could do a naruto and say because the pathways are not formed he could handle it.

[Cheb]

Let's imagine... In the end, Genma *seals* the technique using pressure points.
Each month they have a formal match, if Genma wins he repeats the sealing process.
Ranma's goal is to defeat Genma and get the technique back.
Genma uses this to motivate Ranma.

So Ranma is still very good, _and_ has the happou go en satsu.
You could have it un-sealed at the Jusenkyou incident Following one shriveled panda rug